This invention relates to a method and apparatus of creating a new hairstyle on a subject and more particularly to such a method and apparatus utilizing a digital computer and television camera in combination in which the video image of the subject is transferred to the computer, the present hairstyle is electronically removed from the computer image and a new hairstyle is placed on the remaining image.
For many years people have wondered what they would look like in a different hairstyle. The only way to find out the answer to that question has been to go to a beautician or barber and have your hairstyle changed. In many instances, it is impossible to return to the original style if the person does not like the new style. For example, a woman with long hair who wonders what she would look like with short hair would be unable to return to a long hairstyle once the hair is cut.
Even when a customer underwent a new style change, that person would still wonder what they would have looked like with a different style. In addition, when the customer receives the new hairstyle, their spouse, friends or other loved ones may not be entirely satisfied with the new look. Further, the spouse and others may have desired a different hairstyle rather than the hairstyle selected by the customer.
Whenever the customer walks into a barber shop or a beauty shop, the professional barber or beautician may know of new or current styles which would be very attractive on the customer. However it is difficult for the professional hairstylist to convince a customer to undergo a change unless a customer can actually see himself or herself with the new hairstyle. Merely showing the customer a picture of a professional model with the latest hairstyle may create some interest in the customer for undergoing a hairstyle change, but it still may be difficult and time consuming for the hairstylist to convince the customer to undergo the hairstyle change. The reason, of course, is that the customer is very cautious in undergoing a hair style change since he or she cannot actually visualize himself or herself with the new hairstyle.
The advent of modern electronics has provided the small retail barber shop or beauty shop with the economic ability to afford a personal computer. Recent innovations have permitted television pictures to be converted for viewing on a video display and to be modified, or operated upon, in a certain desired manner. For example, the Macintosh computer, a trademark of Macintosh Laboratory, Inc. and which is licensed to Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., when attached to a MacVision digitizer unit, a trademark of and manufactured by Koala Technologies Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., produces signals representative of an image taken by a television camera which can be viewed on a video display and thereafter operated upon.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method and apparatus which uses a computer system to enable a person to see himself or herself with one or more new hairstyles.